The identities of the victims, as well as why they were singled out for the atrocious act, are still unknown, but BBC News was informed by a Colonel Qasim al-Obeidi that it is his belief that some killed by the militants worked as part of the area’s security forces.

The incident follows after ISIS gained control of roughly 90 percent of the town, located in the Anbar province. ISIS had only gained that extent of control over Al-Baghdadi as recently as last weekend after months of bitter fighting. The town is situated close to the extremely armed and guarded Ain al-Asad air base – a base a little too close for comfort for the 300 U.S. and Iraqi troops stationed there.

Col. al-Obeidi also stated that an attack was ongoing on a compound where security personnel, local officials, and their families are living. He told BBC News that he’d sent for help from the Iraqi government, as well as from the international community.

Due to the fighting in the region, communication channels have suffered, making the claims problematic to verify conclusively.

As readers well know, this terrible act and heinous tragedy follows the attacks on the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and the kosher market in Paris last month, the similar attacks in Copenhagen, Denmark last weekend, and most recently, the beheading of 21 Coptic Egyptian Christians in Libya, outside of Tripoli, not to mention the Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kasaesbeh burned alive, as well, last month. The pilot had been captured last December after his aircraft, actively involved in a U.S.-led airstrike, crashed in Syria.